User talk:Gadfium/Archive 3

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New Zealand Portal[edit]

Hi,
If you ever need any help, (or if you are going to be away etc,) I am more than happy to asist anyway I can on the New Zealand portal.
I thank you for your hard work so far on it. Happy New Year Brian | (Talk) 01:24, 1 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

thanks![edit]

Greetings Gadfium,
I wish to offer my gratitude supporting me on my recent nomination for adminship, which passed with the final tally of 65/4/3. If you would ever desire my assistance in anything, or wish to give me feedback on any actions I take, feel free to let me know. Cheers! Elle vécut heureusement toujours dorénavant (Be eudaimonic!) 08:05, 1 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Still more thanks.[edit]

Couldn't resist swinging by to add an article I just did at the radio control wiki...and I saw what you did for that anon. Thanks much! Back to the break.  :) - Lucky 6.9 02:30, 5 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Spreadsheets[edit]

I am currently working towards rewriting wikipedia: News sources and its subpages in order that they are more neutral in their presentation of news sources. I've chosen a method of presentation that requires calculations based on the populations of various countries and the number of news sources currently collected for those countries. Once I have finished doing this others (including myself) may want to view the spreadsheet I used in order to make corrections and updates. However, I am unsure as to whether spreadsheets are accepted for upload on wikipedia.

I am using Open Office so I can upload it in many formats including ones for excel and some open formats. Can you advise me on what to do here? I noted you were an admin and that you've contributed some news sources from New Zealand so I thought you might be able to advise me :) Barnaby dawson 19:50, 5 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm no expert on the policies about uploading spreadsheets to Wikipedia, but the discussion I could find about it is at Wikipedia:Media and more specifically Wikipedia_talk:Media#Spreadsheets. That's probably the best place for you to ask.
Most likely, you can save as html or xml and upload that or a wikified equivalent. You could also save as a graphic format (I think PDF is frowned upon for upload to Wikipedia, although that would be most convenient to you). The problem is going to be both displaying the content to viewers, who may not have Excel or OpenOffice installed, and allowing editors to change the content. Exporting to a graphic format fixes the first problem, but you also need the original .ods or .xls file for people to readily edit. I don't have any answers to this.
I suppose if most of the heavy lifting is done by a spreadsheet, which then exports html tables, and a html table to wiki converter makes nice markup out of that (see Wikipedia:Tools/Editing_tools#Wikisyntax_conversion_utilities), then people can add extra sources directly to the wiki page, using a calculator to generate necessary fields.-gadfium 20:50, 5 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the directions. I've posted there so hopefully will get some response. Barnaby dawson 21:36, 5 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

INCIS[edit]

Hello, yes I would like to add more information to INCIS, although I am back to work tomorrow :( . My knowledge of INCIS is not in depth, I read over the ministerial report and whipped something together last night. From memory I remember a $150M budget blow out but need to get facts. I have a few friends associated with the NZ police and one told me something quite interesting today. This persons relative also worked for IBM, and was one of the last people to try to revive the INCIS project. It sounds like what IBM were contracted to deliver was way beyond the scope that they could actually do for NZ police with the money and resources they had at the time, so they ended up walking away from the INCIS project. INCIS is the system they use still, although it is probably getting a bit dated. Oh and I also agree with your comments (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:New_Zealand_Police&oldid=17532029 )about the New Zealand Police article lacking a NPOV, it needs significant work

Zven 09:40, 8 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

This page isnt intended as a replacement for the Wanganui computer, Ive heard that this still exists, it must be used in conjunction with the current INCIS framework.

Zven 21:59, 8 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The following article [1] mentions that The other police project being monitored is LES, better known as the system replacing the Wanganui Computer.

Zven 00:43, 9 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Proposed entry for Alfred Vargas[edit]

Please read through this snippet of new proposed entry for the Philippine Actor Alfred Vargas. Thank you for your kind consideration. Crushweb

"Alfred Vargas (born in San Juan Metro Manila on October 24,1981) is a Philippine Movie and TV actor. He was originally a member of ABS-CBN star circle acting workshop batch 10. From there had his TV role in the drama soap opera “Pangako Sa Yo”(My Promise to you) from the same network. But this Ateneo de Manila graduate was acting in theatre long before the talent scouts lured him into television.

Undoubtably his breakthrough role came in the movie Bridal Shower by Seiko films in which he was able to display his acting potential as a drama actor. This along with the move to the GMA network opened a slew of opportunities for the young actor. This move has seen him feature in prominently in three notable shows in Philippine television, the daytime drama Daisy Siete and the Fantasy Series’ Encantadia and Etheria."

Uathesis class[edit]

I agree in hindsight wikipedia may not be the best place for this article ultimately. I have put a TODO list of things I want to add to the page. It would be good for now if it could stay temporarily. That way we can decide if it can remain as part of the Auckland University page, if not, then I can get the edits transfered over to a suitable auckland university internal wiki, such as the statistics department internal wiki.

Zven 00:47, 10 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]


TV3[edit]

Ref to TV3 (New Zealand) talk page.--Matt von Furrie 11:48, 11 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding Category:Web_hosting category[edit]

Currently Category:Web_hosting contains only free hosting providers. Should this category be renamed as Free Hosting providers ? (Reply in Talk page of that category)--Soft coderTalk 05:33, 14 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks[edit]

Thank you for your help in reverting the unit converter linkspam. Aapo Laitinen 13:54, 15 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Camera[edit]

I don't suppose you want to hop on the ferry at take some pictures in Melbourne and Sydney do you? Giano | talk 16:52, 15 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You pay for the tickets, I'm there! The West Island is about 1200 km away, so the ferry services are, shall we say, infrequent.-gadfium 18:42, 15 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • So? Have you no sense of adventure? I went on a day trip to Naples once from Sicily, and my mind is a lot broader for it. One has to stretch oneself. Get that camera and broaden your horizons! Think of the project, think of Wikipedia, think of me! You're not going to get very far in life with that sort of attitude. Giano | talk 20:39, 15 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

St Mary's[edit]

That's megabrilliant - allthough I'm stll surprised at your lack of adventurous spirit - what would have happened if the Italian race were like that - New Zealand would never have been discovered by "Luigi il kiwi" and there where would you all be. The pictures are great, before I edit the page and make some changes - is this St Mary's "the wooden St Mary's, the cathedral church of Auckland. Covering 9000 square feet (800 m²), St Mary's is the largest wooden Gothic church in the world. The custodians of this white-painted many-gabled church today claim it to be one of the most beautiful buildings in New Zealand" - I don't want to write up the wrong one, it looks to me lijke it is as I can see the new church in the background. Perhaps the article now wants a whole section - anyway it's all good news. Thanks Giano | talk 08:26, 17 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oh hell - it's blue already - have I got the right place? Giano | talk 09:30, 17 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Don't talk too loudly about Luigi, we've just been through a battle over such claims. For evidence that it's the right church, I've uploaded another photo (right). I hadn't realised that there was an article on the cathedral either. I've added a few categories to it and a link from Parnell, New Zealand so it is easier to find.-gadfium 18:48, 17 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • I'm surprised you don't know about "Luigi il kiwi" he not only invented New Zealand but also introduced the sheep a sort of hybrid Sicilian goat. I've started to put down a few thoughts here User:Giano/Holy Trinity Cathedral, Auckland., I work in a mess - if it's in "real space" people keep butting in to sort out my English, grammar and spelling, and the facts - then I loose track of what I am about. Having said that can you keep an eye on it for megaboobs, I've never been to NZ - must do something about that some day. Giano | talk 20:22, 17 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
That looks like a great start. The population of greater Auckland is now over 1.2 million (see Auckland), but we're not a very religious lot, and those that are are divided between several churches, so only about 17% of kiwis are Anglicans (Demographics of New Zealand#Religions_.282001_Census.29). Since Catholics are more numerous than Anglicans in Auckland (see the map in the Demographics article), there's probably less than 17% of Aucklanders who are Anglicans.
Your article title ends with a period. Let me know when you are ready to have your English, grammar and spelling remorselessly criticised.
Are you planning to merge your article in with the existing one? They have very different tones at present.-gadfium 21:04, 17 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Yeah it will have to be merged, but at present there is not too much history or architecture - please add anything you like - I can't find much about the architecture of the new cathedral whicj is odd for such a prestigious building - architect? thats ort of stuff. I deleted the stuff about serving the population - it's what comes of reading the church sites too often , you start to believe and sound like one of them! Giano | talk 22:55, 17 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I assume you're aware of their home page, which seems to have a bit of information. The architect was John Sinclair [2] who appears to be the former president of the New Zealand Institute of Architects [3]
Try using [4] when you're searching since you can restrict searches to New Zealand topics more elegantly than just using "site:.nz".-gadfium 23:37, 17 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks I had found their website, problem is like all cathedral websites it can be a little POV for Wikipedia, but there is some good stuff there. I can see the way the page is going now, it took a little while because of all the various preceding structures - I don't think we need St Barnabus section now, as it was not on the site, as I understan it the first church there was the original St Mary's. I know when I was researching Mountfort I found a lot about it and for a while confused it with Mountfort's church now typically I can't find it again. Do you happen to have any more pictures of the new (Sinclair's) cathedral - it looks prettu good, I particularly like the emulation of certain of Mountfort's features but in a upbeat way - that is great. It should not be too hard to incorporate the original article into the finished product. I expect some-one will come along later and do a cathedral in the community bit, not to mention the "God thing" - I'm not too good on him! Please add anything you like to the page, or correct anything. Did you say you had some interior shots, I've a photograph improving package - i can't really use it properly - but I can lighten shots etc. Regards Giano | talk 11:45, 18 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'll go back and get some more shots, including interior shots, of the cathedral next week. I'd do it sooner but it's a wet and grey day today and probably tomorrow, and I need all the help I can get from the weather to produce good shots. I'll fiddle with my interior shots of St Mary's in Paint Shop Pro and upload one later today. The problem is that it's dim inside the church, but there's electric lighting, so increasing exposure times overexposes the lights while still not revealing the detail. Is there anything in particular I should be trying to include in my photos? Eg stained glass windows, ceiling shots, live services (that would be more difficult for me, I've never been to a church service in my life, and they probably don't encourage photography during them so I'd have to use a hidden camera).
For the article, I'd suggest dropping most of the background about Auckland and getting rid of the picture of the Sky Tower. If you were writing a stand-alone article for a magazine, that would be fine, but in Wikipedia the full article is just a click away.
In answer to some of your questions in the article: The main entrance of St Mary's is now from the North end, although I can't be sure that they didn't rotate it when they moved in in 1982. There is no snow in Auckland, see Auckland#Climate. I think there's a recognised phenomena of architects designing buildings to cope with snow even in places which don't have snow, because the architect lives in a colder climate.-gadfium 18:51, 18 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
That would be great, yeah I'll frop the Auckland bit, or just a put a bit about it somewhere being a big important city to New Zealand, have to justify why it has a cathedral. - the problem I'm having with the complas is that in Christian churches the high altar is usually at the East end, which means the top two views (as currently placed) of St Mary's and Holy T should be the west elevations - which doesn't fit in with your directions. I can accept a modern New Zealand church may be back to front, but Mountfort in the 1880s would never have contemplated such an affront to Christianity. More photos would be great especialy ones of architectural detail. The website is very proud of their stained glass so I suppose we should have one - allthough I know nothing a about it - I'm sure I can find something somewhere. I may draw a simplified plan of the cathedral (very simplified so as not to break copyright) just to show the fgeneral layout, it's easier than trying to describe it.
I didn't think a cathedral had to be in a large city. In Europe, I thought even some small towns had cathedrals. In my childhood town of Newry (pop 27,000) there's a cathedral - [5].-gadfium 19:54, 18 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • That is a very good point, disregarding the obvious that a larger town needs a larger church to accommodate everyone - and a larger church is often (but not always) a cathedral. Now I could be wrong (I'm sure there are at least 20 on Wikipedia with differing opinions) but in certain pockets of Europe - a town cannot have the status of city without having a cathedral. In reality I suspect that having a cathedral confers the status of city on a town rather than the other way around. Milton Keynes had a large church built which is often called a cathedral but for some reason is called the "City Church" which I suspect will destroy my theory. However, I note Newry is in fact a city, so perhaps this is because it has a cathedral. One thing I know for sure is that a cathedral is so called because it contains a cathedra (God I hope that's blue and confirms this) which is an alternative name for a Bishop's throne, which means that each Bishop or diocese has it's own cathedral - consequently I suspect if we dig a little deeper we will find a new diocese and attendant Bishop was set up about the same time as Mountfort's wooden St. Mary's was built in "1880 wheneveritwas". I'll se what I can find and alter the page accordingly - I think though in Auckland it was probably a matter of civic pride that each church was significantly grander than the last - but no Bishop - no cathedral. I'm pretty sure though that the presence of a cathedral confers city status, but I am prepared to be contradicted Giano | talk 21:09, 18 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • PS: I think the answer is in here somewhere [6] I'll try and sort it tomorrow - unless someone already knows why it had to become a cathedral in 1886.
I was last in Newry in 2003, and they were celebrating having recently gained city status. The 1911 Britannica [7] calls it a town. So while you are certainly correct that a cathedral is a historical requirement to being called a city (at least in the UK), it doesn't appear to be sufficient in itself.
In New Zealand, a much less religious place, the definition of city is based on population. I suppose it may have been different in the 19th century.-gadfium 22:04, 18 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • OK. So how do we find out for sure what happened in 1884 to suddenly make them change from church to cathedral? - my hunch is the new diocese was up an running, converting all incapable of fast movement - from the faithful flock had a good income coming in, and thus had chance to take stock - and the Bishop dancied himself enthroned in a cathedra like his less occupationally challenged and more comfortably seated contemporaries back home; but I don't think it would be a good idea to put it in the article - not without some very creditable sources. Giano | talk 22:29, 18 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Please do not photograph church services (unless it fulfills some subconsvious inner need) I I have a dees rooted Catholic mistrust of Anglicans - one can only immagine what they get up to in their services - curiously the new cathedral has a very Catholic layout - at least that shows these particular Anglicans are not of the "clap-happy" variety.

Please keep up the advice, or change anything that's wrong or lacking - I might ignore advice I never take offence - well seldom take offence.......Giano | talk 19:16, 18 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've uploaded the best of the interior shots. None of my existing pictures of stained glass at St Mary's are worth keeping. I'll try to get some better shots next week.-gadfium 19:43, 18 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • That's good, it shows the roof height thing I've just been banging on about on the central aisle - how about inside the new church, can you not dress as a priest (I'm sure Grutness would hel!) with a hidden camera? seriously it seems to have a lot of glass walls/doors a shot of them would be good. I'll see if I can dig some references for this out, a lot of it is obvious, but still needs to be supported Giano | talk 19:48, 18 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Gisborne[edit]

Tip: You might want to have a quick look at the articles linked to in the "See Also" section of Gisborne - SimonLyall 12:03, 20 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Gisborne Part 2[edit]

Hey, thanks for the tips. Don't worry, most of the info is from my head... well apart from when I had to ask a couple of other people for help like my ex-mother-in-law and my mother. All in all, I'm a purebred Gisbornite and you kinda get drummed into you who is from home and who isn't. Thanks again. Originalsinner 08:38, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Clarke Gayford[edit]

Hey and thanks again. Gisbornites does sound better doesn't it. I'd added the reference where I got the info about Clarke from. It's a Q&A that was the basis but if you feel it's infringing just let me know what needs to be edited. Cool. Originalsinner 03:14, 23 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Upset[edit]

how is it that people can survive off of the commons while making their pages? Man, I thought that picture would be able to be on my page. Can I pull the picture off of the calvin and hobbes article and put them on my page?--Calvinsupergenius 16:44, 23 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The people who draw comics have every right to make money from their work. They might or might not care about a single image being displayed on someone's non-commercial page on the web, but Wikipedia isn't just someone's page, and we have to stay squeaky clean about copyright as far as we possibly can.
I would think it would be okay if you were to draw a Calvin image yourself (or, if you can't draw, then get a friend who can), and upload that for use on your user page. Make sure the image isn't an exact copy of one of the comics, and make it clear when you upload it that it's "fan art" and doesn't get mistaken for an original comic. I've already demonstrated that I don't understand the ramifications of copyright very well, so you might want to check the legality of this idea out with other people before you put a lot of effort into it.
Also, I suggest you start doing some useful stuff around Wikipedia. We're all about building an encyclopedia, and so far you don't seem to have done much of that. There are lots of little jobs that need doing that you don't have to know anything about the subject to do. See Wikipedia:Maintenance for some of these, and consider joining Wikipedia:Cleaning department or Wikipedia:Typo. Of course, if you can write articles or add to existing ones because you are an expert in some subjects or are good at researching, that would be great too.-gadfium 18:43, 23 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
It won't even let me upload my own art i made on an art program! thats it! I guess my page will be blatant, thanks to how hard Wikipedia makes it to get a picture on a user page! calvinsupergenius signs this.
Please explain what happens when you try to upload your own artwork. What error messages do you see?-gadfium 20:54, 23 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, you're best going to the Wikipedia:Help desk and asking there. They've got far more expertise in solving such problems than I have.-gadfium 21:14, 23 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
OK, thanks.--Calvinsupergenius 13:36, 24 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've started collecting info to add a paragraph with some new info on the herring page. Remember; I suggest you start doing some useful stuff around Wikipedia? --Calvinsupergenius 15:47, 25 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Seeing what's changed[edit]

Hey, when on your watchlist, what do I click on to see whats been changed?--Calvinsupergenius 18:42, 24 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You can't see my watchlist, and I can't see yours; watchlists are private. To see what's been added to my talk page recently, use the Page history. If you have javascript enabled in your browser, you can get a diff listing of changes between the edits you choose. Many experienced Wikipedians read much of Wikipedia through diff listings, ie reading the raw markup rather than the result.-gadfium 19:00, 24 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks from Lulu[edit]

Storm clouds ... and silver linings Thank you for your support on my RfA.
Unfortunately, it failed to reach consensus. Nonetheless, it proved an opportunity to establish contacts and cooperation with many supportive editors, which will be beneficial to editing Wikipedia in the future. Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters (t @)


thanks[edit]

Thanks for the warning about what that bot was going to do. I messaged its owner about it, too.--Calvinsupergenius 19:10, 26 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Great idea! I've made my three guesses. --TantalumTelluride 23:24, 31 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Humair septuplets[edit]

Why was an article about the Humair septuplets deleted? --Jonund (talk) 15:06, 17 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Re:The weather in London[edit]

Thanks for the history lesson. I would have used something like Wikipedia:Example of a red link for that purpose, but I suppose it doesn't matter. --TantalumTelluride 19:31, 3 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Re: Congratulations[edit]

Yes, you've been very succesful with the NZ Portal - it'd probably be successful at WP:FPCAN straight away. Unfortunately, the Aussie Portal hasn't had much interest from anyone other than myself (although ITN is sometimes updated by others (which reminds me - thanks for updating that when I was on WikiBreak), and Clarkk helped some before he left). Now that you've implemented the queue system, you're pretty much set. ITN and DYK will be the primary concerns, but so long as they do not fall behind more than 2-3 months (per criteria), all should be fine. I'd happily help maintain if others neglect to (but I doubt I'd need to, given P:NZ is more frequently updated than P:AU). As for the edit link, I prefer them to be discrete (and am fine with how they presently appear). But I wouldn't have a problem with you changing the header colour, or repostioning the edit link (like on P:AU). The link to the picture archive is probably necessary too.

Other than that, you might consider arranging a topic list like that on P:AU or P:L. I'll set up an Associated Wikimedia box as well. Good luck.

Oh, by the way, I was considering setting up a Portal:Oceania as a link between P:AU and P:NZ and Portal:Geography. Would you be interested? --cj | talk 04:57, 5 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]


NpGallery[edit]

Can I assume by your edits that you consider this Spam?Pschemp | Talk 08:15, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

My edits were a response to your request for assistance. I answered one of your other posts.-gadfium 08:17, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, I see your reply now. Thanks!Pschemp | Talk 08:17, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you! There are about 250 pages with the link on it! Nationalparks 08:23, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry if I went a bit nuts with the request for assistance. I just didn't know for sure who reads what how often. Pschemp | Talk 08:25, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
You can see all the pages that have the link here. Nationalparks 08:27, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'll tackle the rest of them tomorrow. It's bed time now.-gadfium 08:43, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I have begun removing the links as well. Don't worry, it won't be just you. Nationalparks 08:43, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Wow, there have been quite a few edit wars over these links. Nationalparks 08:55, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
All done! (I got the rest of them) Pschemp | Talk 09:45, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Um, these links ARE NOT link spam. And Pschemp IS NOT an admin, nor qualified to remove them. These links have been on Wikipedia for a long time. This is clearly a case of two users and one admin abusing their authority. Where do I complain about this? Npgallery 20:04, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Remove Commercial Link?[edit]

Wikipedia has rules against commercial links, Gadfium? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Npgallery (talkcontribs)

Wikinews block[edit]

Yes, I knew it would expire sooner or later, and obviously that request was reasonable only for the duration of the block. Thanks for replying though. Greentubing 04:38, 8 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

please respond[edit]

I'm terrified of what happened. I need to talk to you, but have no idea how to contact a wikipedia user in private. adam_10_28_81 05:04, 12 February 2006

I have no idea what you are talking about. This is the first contribution your account has made, unless you've made edits to articles which have since been deleted. If you want to contact me privately, please use the E-mail this user button. You will need to have enabled your own email.-gadfium 18:30, 12 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Whats going on that could be so horrible on wikipedia? I saw only on thing posted on his user and talk page. Must be petrified. --Calvinsupergenius 18:45, 7 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
He emailed me and explained the situation. I can't comment on the details.-gadfium 05:18, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Well, was it personal,Or did it have to do with wikipedia? --Calvinsupergenius 20:27, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Re:Anniversary[edit]

Thanks for that :) Not sure whether I'm still going as fast as I was - it took me a lot longer to move from 50 to 60,000 than the previous ten. I think a lot of the fast bit was re-stubbing work (you can munch through a hundred of them in a sitting if you're "on song"). As to the portal, no, I didn't know about that - then again, I haven't done as much work as I'd hoped on the subject - a few geography and buildings stubs and that's about all. I'll see what I can do though! Grutness...wha? 05:44, 15 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks[edit]

Thanks for your response to the proposal that I submitted to the Village Pump yesterday on how to attract older, experienced conributers. I really appreciated your kind remarks.

By the way, my proposal is still there on the discussion page ... at least as of a few minutes ago. Somehow, it got submitted twice and so I deleted one of them. mbeychok 16:38, 15 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Re: Portal:Oceania[edit]

Thanks for starting discussion on this. I'll comment as time allows (I'm presently without home internet access after moving). Regards, --cj | talk 15:49, 17 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Image copyright problem with Image:TF IcoddelosVinos.png[edit]

Thanks for uploading Image:TF IcoddelosVinos.png. However, the image may soon be deleted unless we can determine the copyright holder and copyright status. The Wikimedia Foundation is very careful about the images included in Wikipedia because of copyright law (see Wikipedia's Copyright policy).

The copyright holder is usually the creator, the creator's employer, or the last person who was transferred ownership rights. Copyright information on images is signified using copyright templates. The three basic license types on Wikipedia are open content, public domain, and fair use. Find the appropriate template in Wikipedia:Image copyright tags and place it on the image page like this: {{TemplateName}}.

Please signify the copyright information on any other images you have uploaded or will upload. Remember that images without this important information can be deleted by an administrator. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Thank you. nixie 07:53, 18 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Trans-Tasman one-upping in progress[edit]

Hi G - Thought you might be able to offer a bit of advice about what's going on over at the Pavlova talk page. There's been a bit of friendly trans-Tasman rivalry there for a long time, understandably - but it's threatening to get out of hand. I've tried to calm the waters, but it doesn't seem to have done much good. Short of deleting any new comments that go too far, I'm not quite sure where to go with it from here. Grutness...wha? 10:26, 18 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for that. I thought that was probably the best solution, but I'm still a bit chary about removing other people's editorial comments. Grutness...wha? 22:41, 18 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

WP:AA[edit]

Thanks for your addition to Wikipedia:Article assessment/Natural disasters - you do have until midnight UTC, but as it's the first week I wanted to get everything sorted quickly (and am hoping for an early night!) violet/riga (t) 22:57, 19 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Respekt for laconic entry ;) Renata 05:43, 21 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I saved the gushing for Portal talk:Oceania!-gadfium 07:21, 21 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Great job, BTW. Good luck. Renata 14:30, 21 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Award[edit]

I, Brian New Zealand, hereby award you this barnstar; for your work on Portal:New Zealand and for starting Portal:Oceania.
Thanks Brian, much appreciated.-gadfium 18:53, 21 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Tuvalu and Kioa[edit]

Thank you for your kind words. I wish I had more time to devote to Pacific topics in general. As time goes on, I will certainly think of things that could be included on the Pacific Portal and let you know. Thanks! David Cannon 09:16, 22 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Portal:Papua New Guinea - wikinews[edit]

Done! I have set up a portal on wikinews for Papua New Guinea (see n:Papua New Guinea) Brian | (Talk) 21:55, 23 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for correcting my engrish! Good wiking, Mariano(t/c) 07:47, 24 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Free vs. open source[edit]

Please see my replies at User_talk:Zero0w#The term Free vs Freeware is not clear. Let's move this discussion to Category_talk:Free_software#Free vs. open source. --Karnesky 01:12, 27 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The specific inclusion of @mail was a mistake. It is proprietary with source included. --Karnesky 01:26, 27 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks.-gadfium 01:28, 27 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]


NZ Cuisine on Portal:NZ[edit]

Hi gadfium, thanks for the heads-up. Nice to know my meagre efforts have acquired such prestige ;o) ~ ~ Papeschr 03:26, 2 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Peter Snow[edit]

Thanks for letting me know you have started the article on Peter Snow (doctor), particularly the link to his obituary. My father was from Tapanui, and Dr Snow was our family doctor. We have seen the passing of a great man and a brilliant diagnostician. Blarneytherinosaur 10:17, 2 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Ahmed Zaoui[edit]

Sorry about that. I've been sick. I'll try to get back to work on it with you soon. Armon

You bet me to it...[edit]

I just watched the article on Close up and was about to add on ITN,a bit about Trade Me been purchased :) Brian | (Talk) 06:13, 6 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

AutoWikiBrowser[edit]

I went to try it out to fix page references but it says I need to be enabled to use it by an Admin -can you enable me? Armon 13:25, 7 March 2006 (UTC) Thanks! -and fair enough about the tech support! Armon 02:08, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Kiwi English[edit]

Hi Gadfium! I am currently working on a project about New Zealand and I'd like some kiwi to record him/herself speaking in English and/or Maori. Would that be possible? Thanks for your atention and help. ;-) If you don't wish to do that but you know of someone who wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate you telling me who. Thanks a lot again. Adleos 15:01, 9 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately, I was not born in New Zealand and still have a slight accent. I also speak no Maori. I'm sure you'll be able to find someone else from Category:Wikipedians in New Zealand.-gadfium 18:20, 9 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Some people you might approach are User:Moriori, User:Evil Monkey, User:Kahuroa (I don't know him, but he speaks Maori better than anyone else I've come across on Wikipedia) and User:Brian New Zealand. You could also post your request at Wikipedia:New Zealand Wikipedians' notice board.-gadfium 04:22, 10 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Image confusion resolved, I think[edit]

Thank you for stepping in and resolving the image confusion pointed out by dbenbenn. I believe you interpreted my intentions correctly and made the right decision about deletions. Thanks for that.

I've been away travelling on the South Island for five weeks and will eventually have images to upload for articles on appropriate subjects.

JShook | Talk 22:24, 10 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Tawkerbot2[edit]

The escalating autowarn is in the works, the current one was a quick patch because we had no warning system at all, it should be up in a couple days max -- Tawker 04:28, 11 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Spam Accusations[edit]

  • You have lamely alleged "spam" as a reason for blocking, reverting, deleting, and stalking editors. Don't you have anything else to do with yourself but to chase other editors around Wikipedia for the purpose of abusing your admin privileges? The preceding unsigned comment was added by 151.213.230.206 (talk • contribs) .
  • User talk:151.213.230.206 Gadfium, you allege spam but can you prove it? You sound so angry, maybe you should take a break from Wikipedia and let others enjoy the experience absent your outbursts and fits of rage.

Re: Featured portal candidates[edit]

Yes, there is a backlog at WP:FPCAN. I've had only haphazard access to Wikipedia over the last month and thus have fallen behind. I'll try to clear them through this afternoon.--cj | talk 03:29, 12 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Could you finish the promoting procedure for P:NZ. I've got to run. Thanks, --cj | talk 07:29, 12 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Entirely my pleasure!-gadfium 07:35, 12 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Re:NZ DYK[edit]

s'alright :) My fault for not following my own instructions and putting the "new" and "pic" in bold and caps! Anyway, it simply means we've got another one that can be used sometime. Grutness...wha? 09:16, 13 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Nice work[edit]

For your admirable restraint; truly impressive. This is an example of why Wikipedia holds together as well as it does. Happy editing! Antandrus (talk) 03:04, 14 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Funny, you and me messaged at the same time. Good idea, btw! Antandrus (talk) 03:05, 14 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks[edit]

No problem. :) --Rory096 03:09, 14 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You're welcome :)--Shanel 03:10, 14 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry[edit]

Sorry about that, I had no idea. I shall write the text with no pictures, but I am still unclear about why you erased the text as well. Tell me where am I supposed to tell my fellow-students that there is a new userbox for them except there? I understand your objection to the picture, but I don't see why I shouldn't talk about it...--Bjankuloski06en 08:19, 16 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Suzy Aitken article re: it's vs its[edit]

Oops I stand corrected sorry. Have reverted. Glen Stollery C T 01:03, 18 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

No problem. Everyone gets "it's" wrong sometimes. It's one of the traps of the English language.-gadfium 01:22, 18 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
No kidding! ;) Glen Stollery C T 01:50, 18 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

NZ Cadet Corps photo[edit]

Yes, I was wondering that my self. (btw, this photo has been published in a local newspaper) If need be, what I'll do is, on the next 'cadets' day, I'll see if I can get them to agree Brian | (Talk) 04:05, 18 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

They did know that the photo will be published in a local Newspaper, but not an online encyclopedia :) Brian | (Talk) 04:35, 18 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hello[edit]

Hey Gadfium, Here is my reply to James F, about the 486 vs 486 DX2 processor debate. Sorry about the Anon part, using a govt computer.

Mr Forrestor,

You stated on Wikipedia that "No, the anon is mistaken. At 20MHz CPU clock, a DX2 will only drive the system bus at 10MHz, whereas a DX would drive it at the full 20MHz; thus, the performance would be substantially reduced at like-for-like clocks. The point was that the same technology would allow a whopping 40MHz clock, without re-designing the motherboard, the bus, the devices hanging off it, or the memory. James F. (talk) 01:21, 21 March 2006 (UTC):"

I am that anon...

Actually this is comparing apples to oranges. With the DX2 running at 10 MHZ and the DX running at 20, the system bus's are running at different speeds. You should compare chips with the SAME BUS speed, not PROCESSOR speed.

You should compare the 33 Mhz system bus with a DX and a DX2 (Yes I have swapped the chips many a time in the day, in fact a better swap was the DX4 which gave you a 100 Mhz processor speed, with 33 Mhz system bus)

Here are the true stats 486 DX 33 MHz with 27 MIPS (15.86 SPECint92) 486 DX2 (Same 33 Mhz bus speed) 66 MHz with 54 MIPS (39.6 SPECint92) 486 DX4 (Once again 33 Mhz bus speed) 100 MHz with 70.7 MIPS (54.59 SPECint92) Same bus speed, but the Mips doubled with the DX2, and nearly tripled with the DX4

SGT Matthew Smith 25 Bravo (Network Engineer), US Army Reserve mattwithcats@verizon.net



hi thanks for the welcome message

Taylor Hewitt 23:22, 28 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Sir Richard Wild[edit]

Thanks for adding the links, I didn't have time to do that last night. I'm currently researching information on Sir Richards' son, John Wild J., who is a judge for the High Court --Lholden 22:02, 1 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Cheers[edit]

Cheers for fixing [8] and [9]. I seem to forget about that preview button a bit too much!!! Cheers. --Midnighttonight 08:11, 6 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

thanks[edit]

...for the congrats. I hope there are plenty more NZ featured articles from NZ too - maybe if this new collaboration idea being mentioned at the NZ Wikipedian's notice board gets up and running we can get a few more there! Grutness...wha? 02:58, 9 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Doonegate warning[edit]

Right, so 3RR doesn't apply to User:Moriori whose edits are always somehow "minor"? Armon 14:42, 9 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Wikinews Main Page Deletion[edit]

I'm reading through the peak of that deletion request, and I've noticed you said that you "lost all respect for Wikinews." Don't worry about it, that Main Page deletion request wasn't serious; it was an April Fool's prank. —THIS IS MESSEDOCKER (TALK) 19:45, 15 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I do realise that. Wikinews should be a serious news service, even on 1 April. I don't object to people having fun, but leaving such a message on the front page shows a lack of professionalism.-gadfium 21:19, 15 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

John Fahy[edit]

Thanks for catching the fact that the John Fahy article had been vandalised, and wasn't just nonsense. I was on a roll with some cleanup and somehow overlooked that change. --AbsolutDan (talk) 04:44, 16 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Portal[edit]

Yes, well, when i worte that it was 18:00 and i hadn't done my homework, and in my highschool i get a considerably big amount of it every day, and then i had to eat and sleep. but i didn't mean im having a three-week "vacation". I apologyze if i misexpressed. Argentino 23:15, 18 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Regrading @Moving Conversations@[edit]

Huh? What's a diff mechanism?

68.148.165.213 09:43, 19 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding '...diff...'[edit]

Oh, thanks for that heads up & for giving me a personal message; I really appreciate it:-D

68.148.165.213 09:53, 19 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

lookie lookie![edit]

I can't tell you now, but look at my new post. --Calvinsupergenius 15:09, 21 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

portal:browse nbsp's[edit]

Oh! d'oh. thanks ;) --Quiddity 01:41, 22 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Auckland meetup[edit]

How about this: Wikipedia:Meetup/Auckland? GeorgeStepanek\talk 10:24, 22 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Userpage Vandalism[edit]

Cheers for reverting the vandalism to my userpage. It's wasn't anything malicious; only my little brother doing what little brothers do. Thanks again. Blarneytherinosaur 03:18, 24 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Peter Ellis[edit]

Hi Gadfium I still don't know how to "talk" to you by creating a new topic so have to barge in on others, in this case "userpage vandalism"

I have long-standing interest in Ellis case, based solely on an interest in fairness and judicial accountability, that in turn led to an interest in social panics. I think the article so far is well researched. I am co-owner of yahoo Peter Ellis discussion group and was alerted to the article by another member.

R.christie

thanks Gadfium, you looked just as i was adding a whole new batch about the west coast beaches Muriwai and Bethels, and now i'm uploading Piha. My process is to throw them in there and edit the syntax later, the gallery being sub-ordinate to the articles of course. So for short periods they are jumbled. Its just finding a working style of editing, to minimise moving between pages. Apart from that I think its my main contribution, illustration, as a lot of kiwi history i want to write about is quite hard to verify to wiki standard. I'm also quite happy to give much of my historic images to wiki, and I'm happy to take requests for specific purposes. moza 21:26, 26 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Stephen J Ceci[edit]

Re Ellis article I accept your edit to downgrade Ceci to a mere "expert" rather than "world renowned" but venture that as you research the case further you will certainly have to conclude that he is without doubt recognised (within academic psychological circles at least) as the world's pre-eminent authority in the field of childhood sexual abuse disclosure and interviewing techniques. This article by Michael Corballis may be of interest, http://www.peterellis.org.nz/2003/2003-0906_Listener_MemoryAndTheLaw.htm

Cheers and thanks for the tips for beginners. Richard 06:37, 27 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Peter Ellis copyright[edit]

Yeah, I take your point about the copyright. I've put in a few bits from some of the articles though as extracts. That little shouldn't be problematic? If they are, then could you trim it down rather than remove it all? Cheers, --Midnighttonight 09:17, 27 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Years In New Zealand[edit]

Thanks for your balanced response, yes I will particapate in such a collaboration. I could simply sit here for a while and remove the Television in New Zealand pieces for the 59 odd articles (up to 1959 when we got TV), and also remove the Triple JJJ pieces from the 70 odd articles up to whenever JJJ was created in oz. I am just concerned that the author that created them is VERY quick to pounce on any thing I do and lots of other articles, while that YINZ sequence has existed for nearly 2 months, with those bits almost untouched. I simply got a bad taste from my initial attempts to bring it to an aware state; I have been severely abused here, and although some of it is clearly my own fault for pushing the boundaries, a lot was just from being new and not understanding the complexities. For instance placing my name and birth to 1951 was a highly tongue in cheek move to see if those pages were being monitored after someone told him to. I was trying to lighten it all up a bit and i said so. But that backfired in my face. Even though it was verifiable fact, and true, it was described as vandalism, even though the 60 to 70 articles with substantial non-fact and non-verfiable components existed for weeks then, and still exist weeks later. He has removed some specific pieces from specific pages that i nominated, after a delay, but left the rest. I found that ironic and still do. A further irony is that i would normally be happy to pitch in and fix that series, it IS about NZ after all.. If i had done that, it would have removed the very behaviour that I am trying to understand, so I brought it to the authors attention on several occassions. How do i get to understand this wiki beast, if there are such disparate practices? There seems to be many layers of comprehension and behaviour, and I still find that fascinating, its a mirror of life. I acknowledge that since i pointed out those articles contained much garbage that author has backed off a lot, and left me alone more. (I know his intentions are ok and that he is doing what he belives is right). But his contribution list and interactions with other editors is of interest, and seems to support the views of the media, i find that a cause for concern. I dont think he is much different from the core of passionate editors that must keep wiki clean at all costs, (clean from the 'enemy' but do whatever you want yourself). I hardly know, there is insufficient balanced discussion to determine that. I am quite intrigued at the deletionist vs inclusionist thing. The bottom line is that humans are creative and simply find new ways to cope, to get aroud these obstacles, to achieve their individual objectives, and much of the squabble becomes a waste of time and energy. I am anti-vandal too, for some reason they target Dugong , and theres the endless taranaki vs egmont thing. and i get snyde references back to other articles that i have created/worked on in some of the vandalism, (courtenays butt stinks) appeared somewhere. My thinking is that when newbies are slammed like I was, they will mostly just go away and the status quo will remain, so lots of the powerful and passionate allies to wiki will be lost in that first set of transactions. I came here thinking that it was the brave new world where i could be friends with everyone!. It seems to be much calmer recently and maybe thats cause i'm not actively looking so much, but its likely editors are bored with this kind of verbose response. I'm focussed on building good articles. Some of those West Coast beach articles have been sitting for years with little editing. How does that truth sit with all this other energy wasting and destructive deleting and abuse? Its simply the attraction of excitement vs boredom, and its all done in the name of wiki policy. Took me a while to figure that out.moza 03:56, 28 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Thank You[edit]

Thank you for your help.Oneophile 17:10, 28 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Mork on 500th Language Pool[edit]

Hi there, I've noticed you removed my entry of "Mork" as an advertisement. It wasn't my intent to advertise the auction; I just linked to it as a reference. Just to let you know, I restored my entry of "Mork", this time without the link (and an explanation in place). —THIS IS MESSEDOCKER (TALK) 01:30, 30 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Okay. It just didn't appear to be a language, but I'll let it be.-gadfium 01:32, 30 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Blenheim[edit]

No problem. Still alot of work to be done on the article. Hey, is there any chance we can change these maps? They really bring down the articles in my opinion. Your thoughts? --Matt von Furrie 20:31, 1 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see a problem with the maps. What do you think is wrong with them? How would you like them changed?-gadfium 22:43, 1 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
When compared with say, the United States maps - they look like Microsoft Paint jobs. Not putting down the work of anyone else at all, but it'd be nice to see New Zealand stand out on Wikipedia. Also, I didn't realize you were an administrator; congrats :)

I created this template a while ago, just came across it today whilst doing my rounds. The tag is {{NZ Globalize }} - what do you think of it? --Matt von Furrie 22:52, 1 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The template looks good. I've linked it so it doesn't add my talk page to its categories.
Some US maps are a lot more developed than others. The New Zealand maps (taking Image:NZ-Blenheim.png as my example), compare favourably to, for example, Image:OHMap-doton-Blue_Ash.png. I like that the NZ maps are in colour. Other US maps, such as Image:Map of Florida highlighting Tallahassee.svg do look better than the New Zealand ones, but I'm not concerned by the situation.
If you want to find a better base map, I've seen a technique for overlaying a dot (or any bitmap) on it, so we could use just one map (or maybe one for the North Island and one for the South Island) and add the specific location in the wiki markup for each article. See {{superimpose}}, but poke around a bit because there may be downsides to using this I don't know about, or better templates developed since, eg {{location on map}}.-gadfium 23:42, 1 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
FWIW (as the maker of the maps) I deliberately kept the information on them to an absolute minimum to add to their clarity. By using three standard emplates (NI, SI, NZ) it allows any type of feature to be marked, using a different colour dot or shape for each individual feature (towns are red dots, mountains brown dots, headlands black dots, rivers and lakes blue - in the case of rivers, the main river in blue with its tributaries in paler blue - plains light green, forests dark green, etc etc). In other words, an overall system that can be used for any geographic feature and with a set form for each one (something the superimposed "add a dot" can't do AFAIK), so that the New Zealand maps have a uniform look. I agree that the Tallahassee map is a very good one, but it's a far busier look than I was aiming for. Grutness...wha? 06:51, 9 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

""help!""[edit]

how do you stop sub-sections on pages? I'm having problems with my talk page. --Calvinsupergenius 19:21, 3 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Request for Comments on Current events[edit]

Hello Gadfium/Archive 3 –

I'm trying to get some discussion going on two proposals regarding the current events page, but so far have gotten little to no response. Since you have recently edited the current events page, I'm asking for your input on these two proposals:

  • One proposal (this is the big one) involves putting the daily events from the current events pages into article-templates, a lá the monthly pages from 2003 to 2005, as well and having a consistent number of recent days on the current events page instead of a monthly archive. This would allow for the current events page and the respective month pages to be updated simultaneously without the monthly archival. For more, see the current events talk page.

Your input on one or both of these issues would be appreciated. joturner 02:12, 5 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Ban on Aidan Work[edit]

Just to notify you that we received an email at OTRS (reference ticket number 2006050510004501) that the IP 192.190.108.19 is in fact an IP used throughout their library. We were also notified that this user was "tracked down" and indicated that they would no longer abuse their editing privileges. I have requested that the IP be unblocked, although I would expect User Aidan Work to request unblocking on his own.

I am letting you know, just so that you will be aware, as you are the sysop that originally blocked him/her. astiqueparervoir 18:37, 5 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I see you are the one that banned Aidan Work. Does that mean that you are tied up with Kiand, Jdirl, Demiurge and company? Wallie 23:03, 11 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
No, I came across Work through his edits on New Zealand topics. I didn't ban him, I just enforced the existing ban when he continued to edit as an anon after being banned indefinitely. I don't recognise the other names you list, apart from User:Jtdirl (who I now see performed the indefinite banning) and while I've seen his name around as a major contributor to places such as the Village pump, I haven't had any significant interaction with him.-gadfium 23:17, 11 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I got involved with the Ian Paisley article, and these three people, especially Kiand took a very POV stance. I was just trying to improve the heavy POV in it. I am not particularly for or against Paisley, but like to see that the article is a true representation of the person. Kiand in particular was always trying to wind people up, espeically Aidan. Aidan obviously "lost it" which gave someone the excuse to ban him. Kiand is still trying to annoy him on his talk page, even though he is banned. I see that you mentioned it was Jdirl. I really think that this sort of thing is not good for Wikipedia, and wanted you to know. Wallie 19:35, 12 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I am just about to unblock User:192.190.108.19; this is a shared IP, belonging to the Wellington (NZ) City Libraries. A library employee wrote us (in OTRS ticket #2006050510004501) requesting an un-block; apparently, Aidan Work was unaware that his blocks affected the library system as well. We've checked the headers on the employee's message, and everything appears to check out.

Please leave a note on my talk page if you have any further questions. - jredmond 18:55, 5 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

NZCOFT[edit]

I was about to, do it when I got the new message bar :D Brian | (Talk) 09:49, 7 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Easy mistake to make, but it is "Raukumaran", not "Ruakumaran". Your change prompted me to go and check, and I also added quite a bit more info to the article :). Grutness...wha? 06:29, 9 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How embarrassing. The DOC document I was using in the weta article had this misspelling.-gadfium 06:38, 9 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

NZ independence date[edit]

Given your edit and the previous few, would it be possible to have multiple dates? that would indicate the that it wasn't a quick transition. The dates I have in mind are 1840 (NZ becomes colony, no longer part of New South Wales), 1907 (Dominion), 1947 (Statute of Westminster), 1986 (last powers of Brit Parliament removed). --Midnighttonight 04:02, 13 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That would be a good idea, but should probably be a footnote to the infobox rather than be in the infobox itself.-gadfium 04:08, 13 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I see that aussies article has multiple dates Brian | (Talk) 05:09, 13 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Helen Clark[edit]

I have removed the POV-check tag and instead put a section expand tag on the achievements section. --Midnighttonight 07:40, 13 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Trolling[edit]

I can only assume that you have gone the personal attack way, probably as I mentioned Aidan Work. As far as the issues you mentoned are concerned, you mentioned the Helengrad article, and I immediately backed down. I merged the article on Illegal alien, and no one objected or said I had a negative view of the United States. I thought and still think that the photo is stupid and insulting for a world leader, and it has been placed in the article for that purpose. However, it was put back, and I didn't pursue the issue. As far as Controversies sections are concerned, I hate them. However, if Helen Clark has one so should the others. Otherwise, I can only assume you, as the gatekeeper, are politically biassed. The article on Don Brash looks like a party manifesto. You have said I have a negative view of New Zealand. Well, how would you know? The criticism you made of me were full of half truths. I see that you are an admin, and I suppose that gives you the right to call me anything you like. Well, I won't bite. If you stop the childish insults, and talk about disagreements you have with me sensibly, I will listen to your POV. Wallie 19:48, 13 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Trolling[edit]

  • Replies

Please don't troll on Wikipedia. I can find no other term for your edits on the articles of New Zealand political leaders recently.

On the Helen Clark article, you remove a picture of Clark, saying it is stupid and reduces her credibility. No other editor on that page can understand what is wrong with the picture. You then place a picture of one of her political opponents in the article.

  • I removed it, and someone put it back. I did not pursue the issue.
  • The article was full of criticism of Helen Clark, and the politican was one of the critics. I put a picture of him related to and in the controversies section. Again, someone disagreed with its presence, and I backed down.

You criticise the existence of a "Controversies" section in the article, and get acknowledgement that the section would be better broken up and distributed through the article. You then add Controversies sections to articles on previous New Zealand Prime Ministers.

  • Yes I did criticize the controversies. But no one was willing to alter the situation. In order to make things equal, I added controversies section to two opposition leaders. This was probably an overreaction on my part. I was very annoyed at the POV material in Don Brash's article.

At Talk:Helengrad, you propose that a controversial article which survived AfD be merged into the main article on Wellington.

  • OK. I did propose this and you disagreed. However, I again went along with you.

In New Zealand English, you add an expression "on the wagon" which is by no means unique to New Zealand.

  • This is probably the most trivial one, which shouldn't even be mentioned. A lot of expressions in the article are not specific to New Zealand.

I can accept some inconsistencies and mistakes, but it seems your contributions on New Zealand topics are overwhelmingly negative, and I request that you either play a more positive role, or find another hobby not involving Wikipedia.-gadfium 19:28, 13 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • The last part is grossly condescending, arrogant, insulting and untrue.
  • You call me a troll, and yet if I see a confrontation coming, I usually back down, if it is not important, or the other person points out something.

Wallie 20:27, 13 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

IRC[edit]

[21:16] <gadfium> If you look at Foreign relations of Australia, it isn't divided out by country at all. Shall I fold the France section into the body of the NZ article?

Sorry I missed your comment, my sister stole the computer :), IMO go ahead and merge Brian | (Talk) 10:28, 14 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

GA spam on featured template[edit]

hi, i see that the "good article" spam has been put back in Template:featured despite objections from several users. this seems to be the way the GA project works: boldly putting something into a page that doesnt want it, then claiming consensus is required to *remove* it again (consensus is never required to put it there in the first place).

this is exactly the same behaviour as witnessed on the attempt to create an article space "good article" star, which i & raul654 finally managed to have deleted (a huge effort since they had already spammed a 1000 articles with it), and on the Community Portal where this non-policy wikiproject has pride of place - its apparently far more important than any of the other dozens of collaborations!

they even had the cheek to remove the "non-policy process" template from the top of their project pages claiming they now had "enough support to be policy" - this is despite clear consensus on the talk page that its NOT policy. an attempt to put it back was quickly removed.

i would appreciate any comments on the template's talk page. i'm really fed up with fighting these GA spam battles everywhere, its quite tiring. why do they have to constantly spread their GA spam everywhere? hope you can help! Zzzzz 09:45, 15 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think you might have been better served by not posting this message on so many talk pages. A single notice on Village pump would have sufficed to draw attention to the issue. Calling the issue spam is also using unnecessarily emotive language.-gadfium 03:48, 16 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

NZCOTF[edit]

It appers that there is a 3 way tie on the NZCOTF, so we will now have to go to Wikipedia:New_Zealand_Collaboration_of_the_Fortnight#Tie-breakers :) (well unless we get another vote before 8pm NZT) Brian | (Talk) 04:54, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, that will be interesting. Is there an example of such a run-off vote you can point me to?-gadfium 05:18, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thank-you[edit]

The count is in, and now I join the crew who wield the mops and pails.
Thanks for your support! I pledge to serve both you and Jimbo Wales.

If you have anything you need, then please don't think to hesitate.

For I am the very model of a grateful admin designate!
Bucketsofg

yeah okay MY BAD[edit]

Your concerns about Jeowens behaviour is fair enough. I should know better of course than to ask people about links to music that can be downloaded. --Midnighttonight 08:20, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Redirect Problems[edit]

Hi there, I created a redircet from Te Ara to Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand, but it doesn't seem to be working and I can't work out why. Perhaps you can tell me where I've gone wrong! thanks Mostlyharmless 10:40, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Umm, not sure where this goes (that entire request for admin help didn't seem to have a place for it), so I will come to you instead. Is User:Sir Edmund Hillary an appropiate user name? It may tarnish the name of the actual Edmund Hillary, if it isn't Sir Ed (which I doubt it is). Edits such as this and this also worry me. --Midnighttonight 23:38, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You are quite right that this is an inappropriate username, and I have left a message to the user saying so. If he continues to edit under this name I will block him.-gadfium 23:50, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Current Events Oz & NZ[edit]

Hello Gadfium

I notice that you have made some recent additions to Current Events Australia and New Zealand (now Current events in Oceania. Thanks for that.

In my work, I help to produce the Austral Peace and Security Network report (APSNet), a bi-weekly roundup of security news for Australia and the surrounding area. You might find it a useful source for the occasional post to Current Events in Australia and New Zealand.

There is an archive of 2006 APSNet issues, and a page for free e-mail subscription, if you think that it would be useful.

My apologies in advance if you feel that this is inappropriate in any way. --Jonathan O'Donnell 01:06, 30 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Current events in Oceania[edit]

What happened, how come Current events in Aussie & NZ was moved? Brian | (Talk) 01:23, 30 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've replied at Talk:Current events in Oceania.-gadfium 01:38, 30 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Hello[edit]

Hello —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Strongfaithin1 (talkcontribs).

Gidday. I'm not aware we've had much to do with each other up to now, although we have both edited the Latin America article.-gadfium 19:19, 1 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Papua New Guinea Portal[edit]

gadfium-I would love to maintain a portal on Papua New Guinea. I would need some training but it will be a job that I will enjoy. Leave a message on my talk page, and the you can show me it. -Newguineafan 19:45, 2 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Sure, I can wait if needed. Newguineafan 14:28, 4 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, I have been busy so I haven't been able to work on the portal for a while. I don't have twelve articles for a featured article list, but this is what I have so far:

I need to add a few more, but tell me what you think. --Newguineafan 14:01, 1 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Loob afD[edit]

Thank you for taking the time to comment on this page. I would be grateful if you could read the Note on Speedy Deletion in Loob discussion. Winstonwolfe 02:17, 5 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I was typing my reply when the "new messages" sign appeared.-gadfium 02:21, 5 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks[edit]

Thank you for your support regarding the Loob mini-controversy. I certainly have no bias against New Zealand, and would've tagged the article even if the forum were hosted in my hometown.  : ) --cholmes75 (chit chat) 02:34, 5 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks[edit]

For changing the "meals" template for me. skorpion 10:16, 5 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Blank lines above stub notices[edit]

I notice that yourself, and others, remove blank lines that I put between the article proper and the stub notices. I do it to improve the layout. Without the gap the article tends to look a little cluttered. Is is there an official policy on this? Alan Liefting 06:24, 6 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

NZ Portal problems[edit]

I'm having problems viewing the NZ portal at the moment. see Portal talk:New Zealand#viewing problems. --Midnighttonight 08:40, 6 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

yeah it works now. I made sure by clicking on the "purge cache" link as well. Very weird when things like that happen. Cheers. --Midnighttonight 09:09, 6 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, I did actually have an article ready to go, (was experimenting writing on word first to try and avoid the loob situation :-), but couldn't cause a bot banned some vandal, which automatically blocked UoA's I.P. for 24 hours - (probably exactly what the vandal wanted).

This is a blessing in disguise as I've now had time to find two probable errors in popular web accounts of Keith Caldwell and Mick Mannock's interactions. Significantly for the "Did you know...", I can't find any evidence that Mannock ever commanded Caldwell, it seems the Fighter Boys story that Mannock was Caldwell's C.O. when the shooting occured is an error. I think it is far more likely the incident happened in early 1918 when both were at 74 squadron - Mannock as a Captain and Caldwell a Major. On the bright side I have also got the text of a letter Caldwell himself wrote about the incident, which I'll try to add into the Caldwell article at a later date.

The Tim Selwyn is having a minor edit war between me and User:Moriori. And well I'm getting annoyed. Can you have a look at whether Moriori's mass deletion edits [10] [11] are appropiate. I can't be bothered dealing with it at the moment, but (s)he seems pretty certain to just continue removing the info. I'll follow whatever the consensus says, its just a bit hard when its one editor versus another. --Midnighttonight 08:39, 8 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think it's appropriate for Wikipedia to host the text of a pamphlet that the courts have just found to be seditious. I don't think it would be appropriate anyway; this is not Wikisource. I've restored some of the background material to the article. I also wouldn't quote a blog as being evidence of "considerable controversy". I'll restore the para about Selwyn planning to appeal as well.-gadfium 08:50, 8 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Help needed with interesting problem[edit]

Hi Gadfium - not sure what to do about this one... it's a bit of a problem. One of our newest Kiwi Wikipedians is an acknowledged expert in the fields of Otago history and art, and has been adding some brilliant stuff to several New Zealand history articles (in one case, the book used as a reference was one he wrote!). The problems are two-fold, though: firstly, he wants to keep a very low profile on Wikipedia (his time on-line is short and he doesn't want to get bogged down with requests for information), but he's used his real name for his user name. Second, he is largely computer-illiterate, so there's going to be a lot of work done chasing after his articles and wikifying them (this second part's not helped by the fact that I know the man personally and he's a bit standoffish and may not readily take advice, so trying to teach him what to do may be difficult). Because of his profile, I don't want to announce all over the NZ WP notice board what's going on, but I thought if one or two of the senior Kiwi Wikipedians knew what was going on we could keep a bit of an eye on his work. (To give you some kind of idea of his usefulness in terms of NZ history articles, this is his first addition to Wikipedia - after a bit of Wikifying from me!) Grutness...wha? 15:09, 8 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

He looks to me to be learning quickly. His last edits to Moeraki used lots of wikilinks (although in some cases he put punctuation inside the brackets). Perhaps drop him a note about that, and tell him how to make a subheading. I'll keep an eye on his edits too. I'm in exam season, so I'm trying (unsuccessfully) to limit my time here at present.-gadfium 19:37, 8 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

My RFA[edit]

Gadfium, thank you very much for your support in my recent Request for adminship, it passed with a final tally of (65/3/3) - which I find both amazing and humbling. I wish I had time to thank everyone personally, but I'm afraid all I can offer is this token of my gratitude. I hope to live up to your expectations/hopes. If at any stage you need to contact me, for help or a request or to point out a mistake in my conduct, please make sure to tell me on my talk page. --Fir0002 08:19, 13 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hi; I was noticing that you've done a fair amount of work on the Oceania portal and related things. I've been working on Caroline Island, hoping to get it up to featured article status soon. I'd love to get your comments on how I can make it even better, if you have a few moments to spare. Thanks! -- Seth Ilys 01:31, 15 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Gadfium. Thanks. Yeah, I know I found the Broughton reference when I first wrote the article two years ago, but have had a harder time now. And, yes, I requested permission to use the tugboat-wreck pic a few days ago. Thanks again! - Seth Ilys 03:15, 15 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

PNG Tourism[edit]

You have deleted the Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority external link. Since this is (a) an official PNG government website (non commercial), (b) there are other PNG government links in external links and (c) much useful information not available elsewhere in the Wikipedia (that I can find) - why is this not a valid external link? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by David Dingo (talkcontribs).

I removed it because it has been added to many PNG-related articles, but the only one which it might be relevant at is Tourism in Papua New Guinea.-gadfium 02:52, 15 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Makes sense although please note that there is other information within the site (Doing Business, Getting a Visa etc.). Should we set up an External Link on the Tourism Page and place the link there?
Go ahead. I see it has previously been removed from that page, but that was probably because it was being put on so many pages. Make it clear that it's the official PNG govt tourist website in the link.-gadfium 03:47, 15 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hormonology[edit]

Sorry Gadfium, I am obviously new...

My appeal wasn't to simply not delete the page and do nothing with it... My appeal was to people in the field who might feel the same way I do about the subject matter... Hormonology doesn't exsist as of yet as a legitimate field in science. Endocrinology is but there is such a difference between the two eventually the science will branch into what we know as Hormonology... So, why don't I just write about that you ask... Well because I am really not an expert in the field, yet, and the subject matter might be a better worked on by various people in the field to make it a truly great article... With that said, I thought that is what wikipedia was all about.

How about this... I will clean up the article to explain and express what hormonology is and what the differences are between hormonology and endocrinology. And, I will still add an appeal to individuals in the field that understand what I am saying to add to the article and make it better than what I could possibly do alone. Would that be ok? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Christian15213 (talkcontribs).

I've replied on your talk page.-gadfium 03:24, 17 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Lionel Terry[edit]

Hi, GF. Have decided to write a series of biographies starting with (in) famous eccentrics from the New Zealand past, based on John Dunmore's recent collection, Wild Cards: Eccentric Characters from NZ's Past (Auck: New Holland, 2006.) The first one is up now, namely racist murderer Edward Lionel Terry (1873-1905). Any comments?

User Calibanu 15: 15, 18 June, 2006.

Thanks for the helpful comments. Incidentally, I've also amended the Terry entry to include more reference to Mr.Yung, the victim of Terry's hate crime. I only wish there was more information that I had on this elderly gentleman.

User: Calibanu 09:30, 19 June 2006

A.N.Field[edit]

And Arthur Nelson A.N.Field(1882-1963).

User Calibanu: 15.53, 18 June 2006.

Both look great. I've put each into a category. If we have enough of these people, perhaps it would be worth creating Category:New Zealand white supremacists. The categorisation of such people seems rather problematic on Wikipedia at present, since most of the effort has gone into categorising contemporaries as Neo-Nazis or Neo-fascists, but these terms don't apply to white supremacists active so long ago.
Incidentally, your signature is broken. It should have a colon after the "User".-gadfium 04:19, 18 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, my father is in possession of a autograph book owned by Lionel Terry. He wrote poems and thoughts in it with drawings while in physciatric care in Otago. Let me know if it could be useful.

You might be better to make your offer at Talk:Lionel Terry, or at User talk:Calibanu, who wrote the article. I know little about him; I was simply asked to comment on the article back in June.-gadfium 01:16, 24 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Mistake in redirect[edit]

See my user talk --Tjfulopp 08:34, 23 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Arthur Worthington[edit]

Hi, GF. Not sure how you'd classify this bloke, one of my ongoing biographical summaries garnered from John Dunmore's Wild Cards collection. I've linked to the page on polygamy, although I'm not sure that this is completely satisfactory. Arthur Worthington was an alternative figure, multiple bigamist and financial fraudster. I found his story rather amusing, but how would one go about classifying it? User: Calibanu 13:49, 24 June 2006

Category:Religious leaders, Category:Fraudsters. We don't seem to have a Category:Bigamists, but you could create one if you could round up a few more entries for it.-gadfium 03:20, 25 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Count Geoffrey Potocki de Montalk[edit]

And here's another one on the loveable sometime Pretender to the Polish throne, Count Geoffrey Potocki de Montalk. Obviously, this one would go under New Zealand poets, but are there any other categories he'd fit into? User: Calibanu 14:24, 24 June 2006.

Category:Pretenders seems an obvious fit. If he was actually Polish, then Category:Polish expatriates as well.-gadfium 03:13, 25 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Images[edit]

There have been a few images have now been deleted that Vardion has uploaded, I see that another 2 are currenly marked as "not specifying the source and creator". It might pay imo if we keep a watch on his talkpage, as he is away for at least a year. Brian | (Talk) 08:01, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've marked the last two images as {{Non-free fair use in}}, and re-uploaded the photo before that.-gadfium 08:38, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Cool! thanks for that, I was not 100% sure on what to do Brian | (Talk) 08:53, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'm fairly sure that any photo of a current or former MP from *.govt.nz is fair use in an article about that MP. I tend to use such pictures also to illustrate stories in the NZ portal ITN, but that's a bit more dicey, although I would argue it also comes under fair use. Such pictures should be uploaded to en.wikipedia.org, not the commons. I've now uploaded earlier pictures which are noted on Vardion's talk page, and I'll change the licence on any pictures notified on his talk page in future.-gadfium 09:01, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
SimonPower.jpg has also been marked by a bot as Annette Kings below, so you might want to go back and add a bit more. Mattlore 23:00, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Fair use rationale for Image:AnnetteKing.jpg[edit]

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Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale.

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This is an automated notice by OrphanBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. 09:04, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Fair enough in just rolling it all back, I missed picking up on the vandalism. Pretty good tactic that one. The thesis topics are correct, I've heard them before. And yes, I should be doing my essay. Cheers. So hard to get motivated. This is what happens when you have 3x 10,000 word essays and 1x 4,000 due in 2 October. You need to do them now, but have no motivation to do so. Cheers, --Midnighttonight please tell me off for procrastinating on my essay! 04:51, 30 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

This user also needs to stop using WP as a form of procrastination... Mostlyharmless 03:28, 4 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I also should stop editing and study my Spanish. I have a few paragraphs to write before 6:30 tonight.-gadfium 03:35, 4 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I have a seminar abstract due in yesterday :) Mostlyharmless 03:39, 4 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]